Highly Corrosive Liquid Suspected to be Caustic Acid: Activist Andrie Yunus's Motorcycle Speedometer Severely Damaged
Jakarta — Muhammad Isnur, Head of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), revealed that the liquid suspected to be caustic acid, which was poured on Andrie Yunus, not only wounded the victim but also damaged parts of his motorcycle.
According to Isnur, the level of corrosiveness of the liquid was suspected to be extremely high, causing the speedometer of the motorcycle belonging to the Deputy Coordinator of the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence to blister severely.
“So it is suspected this is an acid that does (cause) blistering. So his clothes caught fire immediately. Even his motorcycle’s speedometer blistered,” said Isnur at the YLBHI Office in Jakarta on Friday (13 March 2026).
Isnur stated that following the attack, which occurred on Thursday (12 March 2026) evening, Andrie was immediately taken to the Emergency Department at Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital.
On the night of the incident, approximately 20 doctors immediately provided medical treatment to the victim. This number increased to 22 doctors on Friday (13 March 2026).
Dimas Bagus Arya, Coordinator of the KontraS Working Body, stated that six categories of medical specialists are treating Andrie’s condition, namely ophthalmologists, neurologists, ear-nose-and-throat specialists, dermatologists, internal medicine specialists (respiratory), and forensic doctors.
“(The doctors) are actually trying to see what the effects of the corrosion from the caustic substance are. But broadly speaking, the primary diagnosis, as mentioned earlier, shows 24 per cent burn wounds on the right side of Andrie’s body,” explained Dimas.
“From his head to his body, he has sustained serious burn injuries. Then the most concerning part is of course his eyes,” he continued.
“We have also coordinated with the Witness and Victim Protection Agency, because in this context, Andri Yunus is a victim of a systematic criminal act,” explained Dimas.
Previously, it was reported that Andrie Yunus was attacked with caustic acid by an unknown person on Thursday (12 March 2026) evening.
According to Dimas, the incident occurred at approximately 23:37 Western Indonesia Time when the victim was riding a motorcycle on Jalan Salemba I–Talang, Senen District, Central Jakarta.
As he passed through the location, two perpetrators riding a motorcycle, suspected to be a Honda Beat model from 2016 to 2021, approached the victim from the opposite direction on Jalan Talang or Jembatan Talang.
“The perpetrators were two men who carried out the operation using one motorcycle, each acting as driver and passenger,” said Dimas in a written statement confirmed by Kompas.com on Friday.